Pyrolator

Pyrolator is the solo guise of German synth experimenter Kurt Dahlke, best known as a member of the groundbreaking post-punk/synth pop band <a href="spotify:artist:6pbcoJoywonKNUK9hLJG7B">Der Plan</a>. Like that group, Pyrolator was chiefly inspired by the synthetic sleekness of <a href="spotify:artist:0dmPX6ovclgOy8WWJaFEUU">Kraftwerk</a> and the dissident surrealism of <a href="spotify:artist:0X7nkgtJrvXcn1W8lN9Mtm">the Residents</a>, fitting squarely into the emerging German new wave movement. However, Dahlke also drew from the experimental side of post-punk, employing proto-industrial beats and tape collages for a distinctly off-kilter brand of electronic pop.

Dahlke began his career as a charter member of <a href="spotify:artist:4KtyUYo9zaM9YggIVc7uxx">D.A.F.</a>, helping to found the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atatak%22">Atatak</a> label that issued their first album, but left that group very early on to pursue other projects. He quickly formed <a href="spotify:artist:6pbcoJoywonKNUK9hLJG7B">Der Plan</a> with Frank Fenstermacher and Moritz "RRR" Reichelt, but actually beat his new band to the punch by issuing Inland, his debut album as Pyrolator, on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atatak%22">Atatak</a> in 1979. Using found environmental sounds and implicit social commentary in place of lyrics, Inland received positive reviews in Germany and earned Pyrolator a cult following.

The 1981 follow-up, Ausland, was even more acclaimed, expanding Dahlke's audience, and gained some positive notice in England as well. Third album Wunderland appeared in 1984, the same year Dahlke teamed up with <a href="spotify:artist:7nJr45HkVTU4lXrnwdmaRM">A.K. Klosowski</a> for the groundbreaking sampling experiment Home Taping Is Killing Music. Meanwhile, Dahlke continued to record extensively with <a href="spotify:artist:6pbcoJoywonKNUK9hLJG7B">Der Plan</a>, and also served as a producer for numerous other German artists. His fourth album as Pyrolator arrived in the form of 1987's Traumland, although he did team up with <a href="spotify:artist:3MsuTnuvSGTkkmJinbqHPB">Linda Sharrock</a> and Frank Samba for Every 2nd, a collaborative album of music for the German Olympic pavilion at the 1988 Seoul Games. A similarly conceived single, "Ficcion Disco," appeared in 1992.

Dahlke stayed with <a href="spotify:artist:6pbcoJoywonKNUK9hLJG7B">Der Plan</a> into the mid-'90s and also continued his production work. When <a href="spotify:artist:6pbcoJoywonKNUK9hLJG7B">Der Plan</a> disbanded, Dahlke and Frank Fenstermacher reteamed under the name A Certain Frank, issuing the first of several albums in 1996. Still involved with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atatak%22">Atatak</a>, Dahlke also served as producer and remixer for contemporary electronica artists, including <a href="spotify:artist:6YuaNIJm6LAKBvRdb8PGIt">Kreidler</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0DRlmNJq133uYhzXxJfF3a">To Rococo Rot</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:662bj9rCw8Twt6JDAMmMDb">Stereo Total</a>, among others. He also became involved with <a href="spotify:artist:1Z50KQkLF0pcHd43I68xRU">Burkina Electric</a>, and in 2011 released his fifth Pyrolator album, Neuland, which had more of a straightforward, minimal techno sound than his previous output. Following a few limited split 12" singles, Pyrolator released Con-Struct, an album containing reworkings of material by the late <a href="spotify:artist:79f49kyfxgPm1WF8EHz2vf">Conrad Schnitzler</a>, in 2015. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi